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United States Empire (Section 8)
The United States Empire is the futuristic version of the current US government, representing humanity on the galactic stage. History Many decades before the events of Section 8, the United States of America had managed to accumulate enough power to dominate and overpower the other countries of Earth, uniting the planet's many nations and peoples under one government to become the United States Empire. However, a sorely overpopulated Earth was by now heavily polluted and depleted of resources. In desperation, the United States Empire undertook the task of having populations of whole regions embark on a massive interstellar colonization effort, migrating to other far-flung worlds across the stars. The early colonization efforts were unsuccessful, and so a small faction of the US Senate sponsored a secret project that developed genetically enhanced supersoldiers, codenamed Spear, whose objective was the termination of any and all threats to interstellar expansion, with extreme prejudice. These soldiers carried out this task with deadly efficiency, allowing billions of people to successfully colonize other worlds and establish many prosperous colonies, greatly expanding mankind's power. In addition, with major overpopulation no longer a problem, the people remaining on Earth were able to use new technological advances to slowly repair the planet, turning the US Imperial capital from a depleted, polluted wasteland, to what is described as a utopian paradise. By 2236, the United States Empire now controls a lush, verdant Earth along with numerous planets and star systems across the galaxy. Government The United States Empire is known to contain a legislative branch of government, in the form of the Senate, so it is presumed that it must also contain an executive branch (President) and a judicial branch (Supreme Court), in a manner akin to the present-day US Government. It possibly governs its many interstellar colonies in the style of a federal republic, also akin to the present-day US Government. Military The military of the United States Empire is collectively known as the United States Imperial Forces, or USIF. The 8th Armored Infantry Division, or Section 8, is an elite unit of the Empire's vast military. In addition to powerful ground forces, the USIF also maintains a powerful space fleet, known as the US Imperial Navy. The core unit of the USIF's ground forces is the Armored Infantry. These soldiers wear highly advanced USIF Powered Assault Armor and wield a large arsenal of highly advanced weaponry, various technological devices, and miniature weapon and armor modifications designed to boost the capabilities of armor, weapons, and tools alike. In addition, vehicles like the hover bike, assault mech, tank, and convoy hover-truck fulfill the many roles of the battlefield, including fast reconnaissance, logistics ferrying, and ruthless armored assault, allowing the USIF to emerge victorious in any war across the galaxy. The United States Imperial Navy is also a force not to be trifled with, able to field a powerful space fleet. It is known to contain large spaceships that are able to operate within a planetary atmosphere, such as the USIS Texas. The navy also has small atmospheric-capable fighter-craft at its disposal, which are used to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground strike operations against enemy forces. Notably, the US Imperial Navy is also charged with operating and maintaining the Sky Crane dropships, which are used to drop Armored Infantry and any supporting vehicles directly into battle. The 8th Armored Infantry Division, or Section 8, is an elite military unit of the United States Empire, nicknamed after the military term used to describe psychologically problematic soldiers. Prior to the division's founding, much of the Empire's warfare tasks were handled by an army of genetically modified supersoldiers, whose task was to destroy any and all threats to Human interstellar expansion, with extreme prejudice. Though these supersoldiers won countless victories for the Empire and allowed it to expand across the galaxy, the unstable genetic enhancements began to mutate every soldier both physically and mentally. Sensing the growing instability of this dangerous force, the Empire began to draft plans to replace the supersoldiers with a more reliable, but equally lethal military force. Thus, the 8th Armored Infantry Division was formed by distinguished officers who pioneered Armored Infantry, doctrines, tactics, and the famous deployment method of "Burning In". This new force quickly proved itself in combat, earning the moniker of Section 8. The great success of Section 8 proved the efficacy of this new replacement force, and soon more Armored Infantry divisions were formed and expanded upon, becoming the official frontline force of the US Empire an unknown number of years prior to the desertion and eventual rebellion of the genetically augmented supersoldiers, who would go on to form the Arm of Orion and instigate the Outer Rim War. The division is currently led by General Stone. True to their moniker, the division's standard method of deployment is throwing themselves out of Sky Crane dropships thousands of feet above the ground and Burning In to the battlefield. Thus, the term is given to this unit's soldiers because they are referred to as "mad", when the truth is that they do what no other soldier can, turning the tide of entire battles and wars in favor of the US Empire. Once deployed, they employ the use of brutal shock tactics against their enemies, using on-demand, orbital-dropped emplacements and vehicles to devastating effect. Thanks to their brutal training, they employ the use of advanced USIF Powered Assault Armor with deadly efficiency. They also make use of powerful, state-of-the-art gauss weaponry, which can make a mockery of even the most heavily armored infantry units and vehicles. The 1st Recon Platoon is an elite group of reconaissance soldiers who are part of the 8th Armored Infantry Division. This is the main unit of the game, and is led by Lieutenant Alex Corde, after he was steadily promoted due to the former commanding officer's death. They are deployed via Sky Cranes, but are otherwise housed onboard the mighty battlecruiser USIS Texas. In the trailer, they're seen engaging Arm of Orion soldiers on the surface of planet New Madrid. This unit, and the 8th Armored Infantry Division as a whole, was first formed by distinguished officers who pioneered Armored Infantry tactics and their famous deployment method of "Burning In". The 1st Recon was deployed in the Battle of New Madrid against Arm of Orion forces to capture Orbital Cannon Facilities that were tearing the USIF Fleet apart. The members in the platoon vary depending on the missions, but partners will usually be outfitted for different weapon roles in the team, i.e. sniper, support gunner, and anti-tank trooper. Notably, in the last single-player mission, there is an exosuit armored trooper in the platoon to provide support. In-game, the platoon's teammates are invincible, being able to resist extremely heavy enemy fire for an infinite amount of time. Something one can count on is that after any fight, one of the platoon's members will heal the player if his health is in dire straits, provided the player is nearby the aforementioned teammate. Technology Vehicles The Convoy is a heavily armored support vehicle that is dropped in the Convoy DCM. It has armor on par with tanks, but a much smaller amount of offensive power. It can be used as a sort of light tank early in the game if a team is lucky enough to get it. The Convoy DCM should be won if possible, as the reward for it is very powerful. As the game goes on though, the need to complete this DCM goes down, though it can still be useful. The Convoy DCM is now more important than ever, as players have access to the Bike, which can decimate fortifications and turrets to prepare for a full charge. While the Bike is very powerful in this respect, the Convoy is even more powerful. As it has the armor of a tank lacks only the main cannon and minigun turret, the Convoy is still able to cause an impressive amount of destruction. It can easily take on Bikes and MEchs as well, as it can field considerably more missiles than the Bike, along with mortars. With proper back-up, the Convoy can take entire bases. One of the things that made the Convoy more versatile is the addition of thrusters to allow the Convoy to make a short jump out of or over an obstacle. The''' Bike''' is a hovering, fast-moving scout vehicle used for reconnaissance and quick raids in Section 8: Prejudice. While structurally weaker than the other vehicles, it is the fastest and most mobile. It has a Speed Boost function allowing it to quickly move far distances or use its sheer speed to run over enemy infantry. The Bike’s weaponry consists of anti-infantry and anti-structure systems, including dual-mounted anti-infantry miniguns and a rapid-fire anti-structure missile launcher. Both weapons, the miniguns and the missile launcher, use the same power bar. This means that a target cannot be weakened with missiles and finished off with a hail of anti-infantry fire, because you will only have enough power left to shoot about 10 bullets. The Bike is not best for fighting Mechs due to its weak armor, as a Mech can rip it apart in close range. It is somewhat more viable for versing a Tank, as a tank is much bigger and cumbersome, allowing the Bike to deal a good amount of damage. It can be a devastating Convoy-killer if the Convoy is unoccupied, immobile, or if the Bike can dodge the Convoy's attacks. The MA3 Kodiak is a highly mobile, heavily armored mech piloted by a single USIFinfantry unit. With full NUBIOCHEM support as well as a layer of titanium-reinforced synthetic muscle system underneath a tritium-alloy exoskeleton, the Kodiak Heavy Armor is the anvil of the Mechanized Infantry Patton-class currently in service. Originally designed as infantry support armor, the Kodiak Heavy Armor provides superior support firepower and enhanced protection, as well as point defense and counter-battery fire against enemy positions. The armaments of the Kodiak consist of dual heavy chainguns and a strong melee swipe/grab. It can also leap great distances to close the gap with a better armed enemy. If an enemy is low on health and a melee attack is used against it, the Kodiak performs a finishing move by brutally slamming the opponent to the ground. The Kodiak armor is well-shielded while the armor itself is very sturdy. Its firepower can't compare to that of a tank, but it's strength lies in it's ability to adapt to almost any situation. Unlike the tanks, Kodiak armored troops can enter and exit different buildings quickly and easily, allowing them to act as highly effective CP defenders. Kodiak Armor is best used for close quarter battles, so speed and surprise is key while avoiding direct anti-vehicle missile fire. The A-M12 Sky Crane is an all-purpose dropship employed by the United States Imperial Navy. The dropship can be controlled by either humans or an onboard AI, but AI seems to be the preferred method of piloting, as less humans are placed at risk. Based on released information, they can be used for both space and atmospheric flight duties. They are deployed from battlecruisers like the U.S.I.S. Texas or smaller frigates by way of hanging racks on said spaceships. Their main role is to drop powered armor soldiers onto the battlefield via a process called Burning In. A Sky Crane will fly 15,000 feet above the battle and roll to their sides before launching it's payload straight toward the ground. They also deliver battlefield support items and vehicles such as tanks by flying low over the battlezone, releasing their cargo and making a rapid exit to avoid enemy fire. To that end, a dropship can only release cargo in a safe-zone, away from anti-air defenses. Sky Cranes could theoretically carry on board weapons, though none have been seen doing so.[1] Heavily armored, shielded, and weaponized; the USIF F17 Marauder Heavy Tank is a powerful four-man armored planetary assault tank used by the USIF. Commonly called in by captains with beacons, the average cost for a rapid delivery is 160 Credits. Each seat houses a different function with the first being the drivers seat and possessing control over the vehicles movements and the vehicles main weapon, the second seat controls a twin-barreled anti-infantry machine gun, the third giving control over anti-mech/infantry rockets, and the fourth housing an on-board mortar launcher. They can be easily carried by Sky Cranesand delivered to troops despite its massive size. It houses a massive shield servo core giving it extremely powerful protection against most rounds and explosives and making long range counter assaults futile for opposing forces not armed with high grade explosives or weaponry. Ships The USIS Texas is a battlecruiser with Task Force 33, a division of the United States Imperial Navy. Its colossal girth is able to house numerous Sky Cranes, which ferry the members of Section 8 towards the battle below. Its armaments are unknown, although it is presumed that they are at the titanic level of leveling many cities at once. Its only proper appearance in the single-player mode is during the intro, in which it is shown acknowledging General Barret Stone's order for the USIF Fleet ships to hold low orbit over New Madrid and provide suppressive fire to draw attention away from the deploying Sky Crane dropships. The USIS Nevada is a small frigate of the US Imperial Navy. It appears in Section 8: Prejudice. It is part of a massive US Imperial strike force attacking discovered bases occupied by a resurgent Arm of Orion on the planet Boreas, in retaliation for the Arm of Orion's attack on the USIF military base Fort Solomon on Atlas. When soldiers of the 8th Armored Infantry Division's 1st Recon Platoon located Arm Commander Thorne, they attempted to capture him alive for questioning. However, after a lost firefight with 1st Recon soldiers, a grievously wounded Commander Thorne retreated to a heavily armored, heavily shielded command bunker and barricaded himself inside. After being notified of the situation by Captain Corde, General Stonethen diverted the USIS Nevada to provide fire support for 1st Recon Platoon. Though the command bunker's defenses were formidable, the shields and heavy armor were no match for the USIS Nevada's accurate bombardment cannon, which first deployed three red lasers in order to triangulate the bunker's location, and then fired the cannon in earnest. After two shots from the Nevada's bombardment cannon, the bunker's shields were severely weakened. The Nevada's third and final shot penetrated the shields entirely, destroying the command bunker. A grievously injured Commander Thorne crawled out of the ruined command bunker and weakly attempted to flee, only to be apprehended by 1st Recon Platoon. The USIS Nevada is a US Imperial Navy battlecruiser that was shot down by Arm of Orion anti-orbital cannons during the initial invasion of planet New Madrid. All hands were lost as the ship plummeted from high orbit, crashing down on New Madrid's surface. However, the ship's vital data core was still intact. The 8th Armored Division's 1st Recon Platoon managed to recover sensitive data from the ship's wreckage before the ARM of Orion's troops could, preventing sensitive USIFmilitary intelligence from falling into the hands of the ARM. Armor The USIF Powered Assault Armor is an extremely powerful and technologically advanced battle exoskeleton designed to enhance human combat performance on all scales by offering a myriad of weaponry and devices at its disposal. Developed for Section 8 soldiers and other units of the US Imperial Forces, the powered assault armor is one of the most powerful and technologically advanced battle-suits in the USIF's armory. The suit is designed to dramatically increase all physical properties of the soldier possessing it, including strength, speed, reflexes, agility, physiology (soldiers are not affected by viruses and disease), and combat awareness. The suit features many layers which help enhance and protect the wearer. The first layer consists of what is most powerful protection system, its rechargeable shielding system that forms a protective layer around the user and shields him/her from most forms of heavy weaponry, unless the enemy weapon is within shield piercing range. The shield also reduces drag when the wearer is burning-in. The shields work by constantly sending out frequency pulses around the user (similar to sonar) that detects the movement speed of all nearby objects and calculated their speed and point of trajectory, when the suit senses an incoming object possessing a dangerous level of velocity and/or size the suit emits a powerful layer of plasma to the point of impact, melting or deflecting the object and rendering the user unharmed. The process repeats until the shields lose power and the wearer takes cover, allowing his shields to regenerate. The power of the shields depends on how many shield servos (boosters) the wearer has implanted into his custom armor. The second layer consists of thick armor plates which are made of titanium aluminide, a very lightweight but extremely resiliant . This armor plating covers sections of the wearer including the legs, shoulders, abdomen, back, chest, and helmet; its primary function is to protect against gauss projectile weaponry such as the REC-74 and other heavy munitions like plasma or high-explosives. The third layer is a nuclear biological chemical (NBC) system composed of a tight fitting titanium nanocomposite bodysuit that is just underneath the second layer. This helps seal out anything from the wearer. It also specially seals the suit's built-in oxygen supply that lasts for 2 weeks utilizing a compressed air system, in order to facilitate long-term operations in deep space. Another component of this layer is the air filtering system. This takes in air from outside the suit and filters out toxins, bacteria, viruses, and even radiation. The filtered air, now pure oxygen, is either stored in the suit for later use or put directly into the armor's helmet for the wearer to breathe immediatly. The fourth layer is one of the battlesuit's deadliest features: it's artificial muscle system. The artificial muscle system is composed of many hexagonal shaped titanium nano-fibers, all put together to form large fibers, which are in turn made strung with more fibers to create the muscle system. The nano-fibers react to electrical stimulation, causing them to move. Over this muscle layer, the NBC layer tightly sits, securing a tight fit. The muscle layer completely covers the wearer's body and provides total protection from standard infantry ballistics. It also renders most EMP attacks against the suit completely futile and helps ease the impact when a soldier lands on the ground after burning in. The muscle layer also allows the soldier to engage in overdrive, where the muscle systems allow the soldier to reach speeds of up to 75 mph. The fifth layer is a high comfort cushioning system that protects the wearer from sudden dishcarges, long drops, and bullet impacts. It is composed of hydrostatic impact gel to prevent serious injury. This layer is perhaps one of the most important layers because without it, the wearer would never be able to survive the impact from a burn-in. The sixth and final layer is a soft biolayer that sits directly on the wearers skin. This layer acts as a cushion and helps regulate temperature, fit, and moisture. It also provides a tight seal. Inside of this layer are multiple sensors linked to the suit's computer. These sensors monitor the wearer's biometrics. Protecting the wearer's head is an intuitive helmet. This helmet contains a Heads Up Display (HUD), which displays information such as the tacmap, mission info, weapons and ammo, food and oxygen and the FOF (Friend or foe) display. Also in the helmet is the most advanced Narcomm Communications gear available to the USIF Special Forces. The helmet consists of multiple layers, the first of which is a metal outer layer identical to the armor covering the rest of the suit. This outer layer has two small panels that cover the wearer's eyes. These panels can be retracted back into the rest of the helmet to allow the user to see directly out. On these panels are blue eye slits, two on each panel, accounting for a total of four. The wearer does not see straight through these slits, since they are actually cameras that are connected to the wearer's HUD. Underneath the armored layer is an orange colored visor which displays the HUD. This visor is made of type of bullet proof glass. The final layer is a mask that goes over the wearer's mouth. This mask supplies the wearer with oxygen, food, and water directly from the armor's storage areas. One of the exosuit's most useful features are the rechargeable propulsion jets that are integrated into the back of the armor. When the wearer activates them, two panels on the suit's back extend out and propel the user through the air. The jets can be turned on and off at any given time as long as there is energy within the jet's battery. The jets are useful for scaling buildings and rough terrain or ambushing enemy soldiers. When at full energy, the jets can immediately propel the user at 85-100 feet into the air, or can be used to levitate the wearer if he constantly fluctuates the on/off switch, which can be useful when aiming in mid-flight. Another feature that aids the armor's impressive mobility is it's rechargeable "Overdrive" mode, which propels the user in a rampant and continuous sprinting speed at nearly 75 mph. The feature is a major contribution thanks to the exosuit's muscle servos (see above). It is vital for catching any fleeing targets or covering vast terrain in a fraction of the time; it can be used often thanks to it's long power duration and fast recharge time. If used in conjunction with the propulsion jets, the wearer can cover immense amounts of terrain in little to no time. One of the most advanced pieces of equipment on the armor is the onboard computer housed within the helmet- the TacNet. This computer displays fleet communications, squad updates, and all tactical information related to the current operation. The TacNet also contains a motion-sensor tag system that tracks all known enemies and allies and displays the signatures on a miniature GPS map. In addition, the TacNet is synced with a requisition database through Narcomm to help soldiers select the deployable they want, though the requistion demands of officers have far more priority compared to the average NCO armored trooper. The system also includes a complete overview of the user's vitals as well as internal suit temperature. The TacNet can link with a micro-computer stored within the soldier's guns that provides weapon info such as weapon accuracy, weapon type, and the amount of ammunition left both in the soldier's overall ammo reserves and within the wielded weapon's clip. All of this information is shown on a simplified, yet organized HUD in order to prevent information overload in the heat of combat. Another feature of the suit is that it it houses millions of nano-sized artificial anti-bodies (nanites) which can fight off any known virus, bacteria, or other disease of the empire. These nanites continue to replicate themselves inside of the wearer of the armor, so wearers that have nanites are immune to all sicknesses. The nanites also help to rapidly heal wounds, allowing injured soldiers to keep fighting. One last feature of the armor is the extremly small yet high capacity survival backpack. Located between the jet emitters, the backpack houses the weapons for the soldier (some can be folded for more compact transport), ammunition, weapon battery clips, and weapon cleaning nano-tools. The backpack also carries 2 weeks worth of food and water for long-term missions. The food is compressed, freeze- dried, and stored in small compartments on the armor for easy access. The water is kept in cooled, sterile tanks for when the soldier needs it. Contained in the backpack is also a portable survival shelter. The USIF Captain's Powered Infantry Armor is a variant of the standard USIF Powered Assault Armor issued by the United States Imperial ForcesThe USIF Captain's Armor is mainly distributed to imperial captains but is also issued to other battlefield commanders or special forces. It is presumably a more advanced, or more embellished, version of the standard power armor and can be used to distinguish officers among enlistees. Whether the design is for performance or aesthetic purposes has yet to be determined; though based on in-game performance, the armor's differences seem to be merely aesthetic. Rather than having the dark blue color of the standard issue titanium aluminide armor, this variant is clad in a dark cobalt plating. The armor's artificial muscle nano-fiber strands are a dark crimson color (rather than the standard black). The armor's shield emitters are a solid white rather than a faint blue color and features a double collar bone ridge design. The final feature of the armor is that the shoulder plates are replaced with two large slabs of gold colored titanium aluminide armor, on which the Imperial Eagle design is embedded, symbolizing the USIF's desire for exploration and peaceful expansion. Turrets Rocket Turrets fire volleys of missiles against any enemy that enters its sensor range. Rocket Turrets are most effective against enemy vehicles and structures. However, the turret will not target mobile infantry if a larger threat is detected. They are used by both USIF and ARM forces.[1] You want to harass an enemy? Put a few of these and they will shoot more missile then any one can really handle. It easely tears through any type of armor and Infantry caught in the blast will be bumping everywhere. Its best used as a defence of a base or AA turret since the enemy will most likely try to shoot those before your AA, giving you or your teamates time to arrive and repair the damage done. They can be put on roofs to make them even more lethal. Place these with miniguns to have a perfect all-round defence. Mini Gun turrets are deployables that are effective against infantry. The Mini Gun uses standard rounds, and will fire on any enemy that enters its sensor range, though they will target infantry first. They are used by both USIF and ARM forces.[1] The turret is a normal support for basic base defence. Its range is decent but it has to go through the shield before going to the health. Its best used in conjonction with the rocket turrets since these ones can rapidly overwhelm the shield and can stop or hinder enemy movements. Also, place two supply depots, an AA and the rest miniguns (or just miniguns if your teammates placed depots/AA) to have a near impasse for infantry. Since these guns can be placed almost anyware you can put them on top of a roof that is overlooking a CP. Placing a turret near a destroyed base turret will prevent it from repairing. Anti-air turrets are one of the deployables in Section 8. They are stationary, unmanned emplacements, and are used to prevent soldiers from burning in to an area. They may have an additional role in attacking any Sky Cranes that come low and drop off enemy deployables. They are very dangerous, and if you Burn In to their active area you may be killed. Category:Allied Faction